February 2013

Saturday, February 02, 2013

It's my birthday this month. I'm working on making it a great weekend. I'm not sure how yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Last month, I lost about 6lbs. I thought I'd lost less, but when I got on the scale yesterday morning, it was down a little more than I expected.

It was a tough month. Many changes in my fitness routine. Changes in my work routine as well. But I found a way to make it all work.

At work, I planned ahead and packed a healthy lunch each day. That helped me keep on track with my healthy eating.

I focused on doing what I needed to do to get my workout in right after work. It was dark, and cold, but I still got out there and did it for two weeks straight.

An unexpected road trip came up one weekend - a quick trip to Calgary and back. I rather enjoyed it. Got in some dance lessons. Started to get excited about getting back to dancing again, even competing. I was also able to pick up a few pairs of longer yoga pants. I have so much trouble finding nice long ones.

The month ended on a rough note. Stresses at work. But I'm navigating my way through them all.

My thoughts for February? Well, definitely not a plan. Plan's don't always work out. But thinking ahead and setting goals is alright.

First things first. They need to be SMART goals.

Specific is easy enough. I'm going to list them right here.
Measurable. I need to know when I've reached them, or if I've even made any progress towards them.
Achievable. Loosing some weight is possible. Loosing 20lbs this month is not.
Realistic. Is it possible for me - with everything going on - going to have a chance to reach these goals?
Timely. These are goals I want to reach in February.

Drink 8 gasses of water a day. SMART? Yes. Eat perfectly every day. SMART? NO
But I can eat well every day. Track everything I eat. Keep an eye on my calorie and nutrition ranges. Do my best to meet them every day. SMART? Yes Go to the gym 3 times a week. SMART? Yes Run 3 times a week. SMART? Possibly.
I need to focus on my strength training right now, so if running is taking too much out of me, I need to realize that, and be a little lenient on this. However, I want to do what I can to do this as well as my strength training. I need to listen to my body, and be honest with myself. If I need the rest, take it. If I can push it, push it. SMART? Yes Find a way to love myself for my birthday. SMART? Yes

I have one more thing on my mind, but I'm not ready to vocalize it yet. If it comes to fruition, I'll be saying something soon enough. For now, it's one of those things that needs to be put on a shelf. No use spending any energy even thinking about it.

So these goals look good to me. They are SMART for me. I need to listen to my body - make sure I push myself, but not to the point that I'm doing damage.

Notice I didn't list weight loss. That's more of a side effect of all the goals I listed. But in the back of my mind, I'm excited to see some weight loss as well.

I have one more goal I want to focus on. I am keeping a positive affirmations blog on the side. I want to keep posting there every day. It helps keep me mindful of where I am in life. What's going on around me. And how I'm feeling. It opens my eyes to the beauty in life around me. I really need to do this if I'm going to fight off this depression that is taking hold of me again.